An £86 million Government investment in the UK Atomic Energy
Authority’s (UKAEA’s) fusion energy research programme at Culham
Science Centre has today been announced. This investment will
fund the building and operation of a National Fusion Technology
Platform at Culham, expected to open in 2020.
The new facilities will support British industry and help to
secure around £1 billion in contracts from the key international
fusion research experiment ITER, now being built in France, and
other global fusion projects. Looking further ahead, they will
enable UKAEA to develop technology for the first fusion power
plants and put UK industry in a strong position to exploit the
commercialisation of this highly promising low-carbon energy
source.
The National Fusion Technology Platform comprises two new centres
of excellence:
- Hydrogen-3 Advanced Technology (H3AT) will research how to
process and store tritium, one of the fuels that will power
commercial fusion reactors;
- Fusion Technology Facilities (FTF) will carry out thermal,
mechanical, hydraulic and electromagnetic tests on prototype
components under the conditions experienced inside fusion
reactors.
The National Fusion Technology Platform will enhance the UK’s
expertise in critical areas of fusion research, with significant
benefits to the economy as part of the Government’s Industrial
Strategy. It will also provide a powerful signal of the UK’s
intent to continue its participation in international science
collaboration after leaving the European Union.
So far, 38 UK companies have won contracts totalling over €500
million on the €14 billion ITER experiment – the stepping stone
to fusion power stations. H3AT and FTF will work closely with the
industrial supply chain to create knowledge to position them for
the next phase of ITER procurements in areas including the
tritium plant, Hot Cell, measurement systems, assembly,
maintenance and reactor materials.
The National Fusion Technology Platform is expected to create
around 100 jobs at Culham Science Centre and many more in the
wider nuclear industry supply chain.
UKAEA’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Chapman, said:
Fusion is entering the delivery era, with an increasing focus on
the key technologies that will be needed for the first power
stations. The National Fusion Technology Platform will help
British industry to maximise growth from opportunities provided
by ITER. In the longer term it means the UK will be at the
forefront of developing fusion and bringing cleaner energy to the
world.
